Tony Galento, when asked about Shakespeare: “I ain’t never heard of him. I suppose he’s one of them foreign heavyweights. They’re all lousy. Sure as he[ck] I’ll moider de bum.”

Mike Tyson, on fighting Lennox Lewis: “My main objective is to be professional, but to kill him.”

Joe Frazier, talking to Ken Norton at a social gathering. Frazier: “Hey man, what you been doing?”; Norton: “My wife just had a baby.”; Frazier: “Congratulations! Whose baby is it?”

Muhammad Ali, on an upcoming fight with Floyd Patterson: “I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.”

Willie Pep, talking to an old opponent years after each retired. “Do you recognize me?” the old opponent asked. Willie looked hard and considered before finally replying “Lie down so I can recognize you.”

Henry Cooper, replying to boxing abolitionist, Baroness Edith Summerskill, about the brutalities of his sport. Baroness: “Mr. Cooper, have you looked in the mirror lately and seen the state of your nose?”

Cooper: “Well madam, have you looked in the mirror and seen the state of your nose? Boxing is my excuse. What’s yours?”

Mark Kaylor: “I’ve only ever seen Errol Christie fight once before and that was the best I’ve ever seen him fight.”

Lou Duva, Veteran boxing trainer, on the spartan training regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota: “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.”

Randall “Tex” Cobb: “When I got up I stuck to my plan — stumbling forward and getting hit in the face.”

Blackie Sherrod, talking about a heavyweight contender: “He has everything a boxer needs except speed, stamina, a punch, and ability to take punishment. In other words, he owns a pair of shorts.”

Max Barr, on Joe Louis: “He hit me 18 times while I was in the act of falling.”

Harry Kabakoff, on Chango Cruz: “The bum was up and down so many times I thought he was an Otis elevator.”

Mike Tyson, to the Nevada State Athletic Commission: “I’m not Mother Teresa. But I’m also not Charles Manson.”

Nick Wilshire: “I can only see it going one way, that’s my way. How it’s actually going to go I can’t really say.”

Muhammad Ali: “Howard Cosell was gonna be a boxer when he was a kid—only they couldn’t find a mouthpiece big enough.”

Tommy Farr: “Every time I hear the name Joe Louis my nose starts to bleed.”

Muhammad Ali, when asked about his golf game: “I’m the best. I just haven’t played yet.”

Dan Duva, on Mike Tyson hooking up again with promoter Don King: ” Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.”

Tex Cobb, responding to a reporter who said Cobb was a fat, cocaine snorting , drunk. Cobb replied: “I’m not fat.

Max Baer, when asked for his definition of fear: “Standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early.”

George Foreman: “The referee is the most important man in the ring besides the two fighters.”

Ricardo Mayorga: I will knock out Vernon Forrest in two rounds whether I have a cigarette or not. I know a lot of people want to see me fight more rounds. So, if HBO wants, they can pick two sparring partners for me to fight after I knock out Forrest. That way, the audience can see me fight 12 rounds.”